Can you spot the ultraprocessed foods?

Take a virtual shopping trip to learn more about what's on grocery store shelves.

Little Debbie Peanut Butter Crunch Bars
Bakery
📊 NOVA 4

Little Debbie Peanut Butter Crunch Bars

Little Debbie
11.72 oz
Available at Foodtown
290
Calories
5g
Protein
19g
Sugars
190mg
Sodium
1g
Fiber
78
Ingredients

What You Should Know

Little Debbie Peanut Butter Crunch Bars occupy a familiar spot in the supermarket snack aisle—stacked in colorful boxes near other individually wrapped cake snacks, cookies, and lunchbox treats. You’ll often find them alongside the company’s other retro offerings and near bargain multi-packs and seasonal impulse buys. Shoppers reach for these bars on quick grocery runs, back-to-school stocking trips, road-trip snack hauls, or when they want an affordable, prepackaged sweet for parties and after-school treats. The Little Debbie brand trades on nostalgia and value: approachable, family-oriented marketing, kid-friendly graphics, and a long history on U.S. store shelves that appeals to parents seeking inexpensive comfort foods and to adults who remember the brand from childhood. Packaging emphasizes indulgence and convenience rather than nutrition; there are typically no organic or natural certifications, and labeling leans into playful imagery and portioned convenience rather than health claims. In plain terms, this is an industrially formulated snack: refined flours and sugars, multiple vegetable oils with preservatives, added flavors, and emulsifiers signal a high level of processing. Eating one offers a sweet, peanut-forward profile with crunchy bits and a slightly oily mouthfeel from palm and palm kernel oils; texture is a mix of crisp and crumbly, often in individually wrapped bars inside a cardboard box. Rituals include tucking a bar into a lunchbox, grabbing one for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up, pairing with milk or coffee, or sharing on casual occasions. Its role in American grocery culture is as a convenient, inexpensive indulgence that blends nostalgia with mass-produced consistency.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 2
Servings per Container: 6
Calories290
% Daily Value*
Total Fat15g19%
Saturated Fat6g30%
Sodium190mg8%
Total Carbohydrate33g12%
Dietary Fiber1g4%
Total Sugars19g
Added Sugars19g38%
Protein5g
* The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Ingredients

Sugar,, Peanut, Butter,, Enriched, Bleached, Flour, (Wheat, Flour,, Niacin,, Reduced, Iron,, Thiamin, Mononitrate, [Vitamin, B1],, Riboflavin, [Vitamin, B2],, Folic, Acid),, Palm, and, Soybean, Oils, with, TBHQ, and, Citric, Acid, to, Protect, Flavor,, Palm, and, Palm, Kernel, Oil,, Water,, Dextrose,, Corn, Syrup,, Contains, 2%, or, Less, of, Each, of, the, Following:, Cocoa,, Corn, Starch,, Salt,, Soy, Lecithin,, Soybean, Oil,, Baking, Soda,, Whey, (Milk),, Dried, Eggs,, Natural, and, Artificial, Flavors,, Sorbic, Acid, (to, Preserve, Freshness),, Soy, Flour,, Dried, Egg, Whites..

Flagged Ingredients:

  • soybean oil - Seed oil high in omega-6 fatty acids
  • soy lecithin - Processed emulsifier
  • Sorbic Acid - Synthetic preservative
No Seed OilNo EmulsifierNo Preservative

Dietary Labels

This product is not vegan, is not gluten-free, and is not organic.

Ultra-Processing Assessment

NOVA Score:4 / 4

Ultra-Processed

Why this score?

The ingredient list includes refined flours and sugars, multiple industrial vegetable oils with synthetic preservatives (TBHQ, sorbic acid), added flavors, emulsifiers, and other additives, which are characteristic of ultra-processed foods.

Daily Ritual

Can you Spot Ultraprocessed Foods? Play our Supermarket Game

Take a virtual shopping trip to learn more about what's on grocery store shelves.

Shopping in the supermarket oil aisle

Others also viewed

Common Questions about Little Debbie Peanut Butter Crunch Bars

The Peanut Butter Crunch Bar can be a fun treat rather than a health food. It packs 290 calories and 19 grams of added sugars per serving, so it's best enjoyed in moderation. Think of it as an occasional indulgence rather than a daily snack!

Perfect For

back-to-school
road-trip
movie-night

Vibe:

nostalgicindulgentconvenientcomforting
$NaN
per package